Too good to be true?

Greetings!

For years I've yearned to have a W113 SL.. Believe it or not, I just found a 68 280SL for $5000 in the paper! That seems like a ridiculously low price! In y'alls expert opinion, what sort of car should I expect for 5K? Will it be in a box?! I'll probobly go look at it tonight, but any ideas on things I should look for?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated,

Fred Riss
66 250 SE Coupe
65 220 SE Coupe
68 280 SL (hopefully!)

[Jason Beal]

Fred

Hey man are you back up in NY now? Loan me some money so I can buy a 240d! Give me a call I just got back from Vegas. Good luck with your car hunt. I saw you got another sedan, why not email me the pic, or post here?

Jason

[Malc]

Yes - it must surely be too good to be true!

[DALE DORIA]

PLEASE..........post and let us know what you found. Good Luck!!

[elau]

A mint condition 113 should go for $23K, give or take a few thousands. For $5K, the car probably needs total restoration. May not be a bad project if you have the cash and time to do it.

[toms]

Any rust? Is engine and tranny original?

I would suggest you evaluate the condition of the engine (compression, etc.). It really sounds too good to be true. If you buy a problem car, the initial up front cost is really a down payment for the thousands more you will need to spend to get it right or to get it safe.

Hope it is in good condition as this would be a great find.

[Jason Beal]

So what happened? I know you drove down and looked at it. Or maybe you didn't? Give us the scoop.

JJ

I believe the expression is, "you get what you pay for". Sure enough, I went to inspect the vehicle and it snapped me back to reality pretty quick:

Someone did a horrific job re-painting the car black. It looks like they didn't want to fix rust around the wheel wells, so they put on a bunch of cheesy chrome to cover it up. It appears that someone decided to practice their Flamenco dancing on the hood of the car (bonnet, for those of you in the UK). Looks like they tried CHISELING part of the hood to fix it, then used Bondo to cover up the screw up. None of the brightwork was attached - all was to be found in the trunk in reasonably good condition (including the solid red tail lenses).

The engine compartment was a bit of a let-down... I looked everywhere for evidence of a "113 044" stamp (it's a 280 SL).. No such luck. Also, couldn't find the "130 983" on the engine block. I suspect the engine may be out of a 250/280 SE. I was hoping (at least) to find the series of spot welds where the fender rolls 3/4" into the under-hood area. Yeah, right. Smooth. All the indications I've been told to look for were nowhere to be found.

The soft top was torn quite nicely and covered with something used in roofing, I believe. The floor boards (at least on the drivers' side) were essentially not there. (Guess I pushed on them too hard!).

So! Is this car worth $5000? I don't think so. As someone pointed out, I could spend 5K on it and then dump another 15K into it (and end up with a car worth 15K). The guy seemed willing to negotiate on the price - you could probobly get it for 4K...

If anyone's interested in this "car", let me know and I can send you the phone number (the car's located in the Catskills in NY).

Guess I should concentrate on fixing up my 66 250 SE Coupe, eh?

Regards,

Fred Riss
66 250 SE/C
65 220 SEb Coupe (in about a week!)

You might want to check out eBay item #1846679884, by combining the best of both cars, you could have one really decent Mercedes. Just an idea. Bob.